Short answer
Drinking alcohol is a major sin. The worldly penalty (hadd) is 80 lashes in the Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali schools and 40 in the Shafi'i school, applied only by a Muslim court after proof, never by individuals. The Prophet ﷺ warned of losing the drink of Paradise, but sincere repentance wipes the sin away.
Drinking khamr is a major sin. The hadd is 80 lashes for a free, sane, adult Muslim who drank by choice, proven by confession or two witnesses. Only a lawful Islamic authority may apply it; where there is none, the duty on the individual is tawbah.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- The hadd is 40 lashes; the ruler may raise it to 80 as a discretionary punishment.
- Hanbali
- 80 lashes in the main narration from Imam Ahmad; another narration from him gives 40.
Explanation
The Quran calls intoxicants filth from the work of Satan and tells believers to avoid them. The Prophet ﷺ had people who drank beaten with palm stalks and sandals. Abu Bakr gave forty lashes, and when drinking spread, Umar consulted the Companions and settled on eighty, the lightest of the fixed penalties. The Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali schools follow that agreement.
The hadd has strict conditions. The drinker must be a sane adult Muslim who drank knowingly and by choice, and the case must be proven before a judge. Nobody may take it into their own hands: not a parent, a husband, an imam or a community. In the US, the UK and most of the world there is no court that applies it, so what remains is the sin and the door of repentance.
The warnings for the Hereafter are serious:
- Whoever drinks in this world and dies without repenting is denied the drink of Paradise.
- The Prophet ﷺ said a person is not a believer at the moment he drinks.
- Hadith also warn that the drinker's prayer is not accepted for forty days. This means the reward, not the duty: he must still pray every prayer.
None of this closes the door. Stop, feel real regret, resolve never to return, and ask Allah's forgiveness; Allah forgives every sin for those who repent. Many people find salat al-tawbah and practical help, such as counselling or a support group, useful. For the reasons behind the ban, read why Muslims don't drink alcohol, and see how much alcohol is haram.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:90-91
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩٠﴾ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ أَن يُوقِعَ بَيْنَكُمُ ٱلْعَدَٰوَةَ وَٱلْبَغْضَآءَ فِى ٱلْخَمْرِ وَٱلْمَيْسِرِ وَيَصُدَّكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَعَنِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۖ فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّنتَهُونَ ﴿٩١﴾
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful. Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?
Forbids intoxicants and calls them the work of Satan.
Sahih Muslim 1706
Sahih... جلد في الخمر بالجريد والنعال ...
"He had the drinker of wine beaten with palm stalks and sandals."
The Sunnah basis of the worldly penalty.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5575
Sahih... من شرب الخمر في الدنيا ثم لم يتب منها حرمها في الآخرة ...
"Whoever drinks wine in this world and does not repent of it will be denied it in the Hereafter."
Shows the penalty in the Hereafter, and that repentance removes it.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5578
Sahih... لا يشرب الخمر حين يشربها وهو مؤمن ...
"No one drinks wine, at the moment he drinks it, while he is a believer."
Shows how grave the sin is.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Hudud, Bab Hadd al-Shurb. Eighty lashes, its conditions and how it is proven.
- Minhaj al-Talibin, Kitab al-Ashriba. The Shafi'i penalty of forty lashes, which the ruler may raise to eighty.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Kitab al-Ashriba. The two narrations from Imam Ahmad on forty and eighty.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.